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Benton County Republicans is a non-profit organization based in Benton County, Minnesota. Our goal is to educate the people of Benton County and the State of Minnesota on conservative principles and to advocate the Republican Party's philosophy and initiatives while empowering men and women of all ages, ethnicity and backgrounds in the political process. Join us as we share ideas, form friendships and help good, conservative candidates get elected through volunteer work and political activism.

Section 2Restore and Defend Civil RightsWe support defending the right to life, protecting religious, political and economic liberties, and respecting personal privacy and property to preserve civil rights and ensure that government treats all of its citizens equally under the law.

Republicans believe that every innocent human being, born and unborn, has an inalienable right to life from conception to natural death. Any policy or law that attacks that belief is wrong and should be opposed. The U.S. and Minnesota Constitutions should be amended to restore legal protection to the lives of innocent human beings from conception to natural death. To that end, members of the Minnesota House and Senate should introduce and support legislation defining conception as: “when the DNA (Deoxyribonucleic Acid) of Mankind is joined.” We should also urge them to introduce and support ‘right to life’ legislation that establishes ‘personhood’ at the time of conception. We oppose partial birth abortions and we should eliminate forced taxpayer funding of abortion or abortion providers and abortions performed on minors without parental consent. We advocate providing women considering abortions with information on alternatives as well as information on the repercussions of choosing abortion. We advocate prohibiting U.S. promotion or funding of abortion in any nation. Action should be taken leading to legislative guarantees and protection of the father’s inalienable right to decide against any unilateral or preemptive decision to terminate his child’s developing life.

Protect Religious, Political & Economic Liberties

We support protecting the right to religious expression for all peoples, including the public display of the Ten Commandments and the right to prayer at government events in the name of a specific deity. Everyone should have the right to form organizations based on their set of religious beliefs or principles including places of worship, charities, schools and hospitals. Religious organizations should not be compelled to act in conflict with their beliefs or teachings or fear losing their tax-exempt status because of their support for specific principles or political candidates. Organizations should have the right to set their own standards for membership and the right to maintain in their policies those aspects that support their fundamental and legal beliefs. Furthermore, we feel these rights extend to people of all nations and condemn religious, political, and ethnic persecution, including oppression, slave labor, torture and murder in any country. We encourage respect for our American heritage and feel we should be defined as Americans, not divided into subcategories. We reject any form of preference or quota for employment, student admissions and faculty hiring, or set-asides in the awarding of government contracts. We call for the protection of Civil Rights statutes to be written to apply equally to all citizens of the United States, not to specific groups. We support prohibiting the collection and storage of data on any person by any government agency for the purpose of indentifying and discriminating among such groups.

Respect the Right to Personal Privacy and Property

As Republicans, we respect personal privacy and personal property. Therefore, the federal government should not establish a national identification system for U.S. citizens. We support legislation prohibiting the collection or release of any personal, financial or other private information by anyone without the express consent of the person involved. Specifically, we seek to prohibit the use of Social Security numbers for any purpose other than Social Security identification. We disapprove of federal, state and local governments taking private property for commercial or recreational use or for the sole purpose of increasing tax revenues rather than for the general public good or taking private property from one owner in order to favor another private entity by way of eminent domain. We believe interference by the federal government in private contracts should be prohibited. We reaffirm the constitutional right of an individual citizen to keep and bear arms. A responsible, competent citizen has the right to self defense through registration-free gun ownership and a ‘must issue’ carry permit system. We support removing restrictions on and liability for legitimate self defense. Therefore, a state-declared emergency may not include gun confiscation. All workers in Minnesota have the right to work without being forced to join a union and to organize through secret ballot to join a union or other association. Employees who do join a union have the right to not have dues used for political purposes without their consent, including dues supporting political candidates or for any political purpose. We support legislation prohibiting the USDA, the Minnesota Board of Animal Health, and the Minnesota Department of Agriculture from requiring federal and state premise and individual identification on all livestock animals used for small farm market, private, or individual use. We believe in retaining a free and open internet and reject anti-piracy laws to the extent that they violate the online privacy of our citizens.